December 19th – Grand Central has always been a piss-poor, cliched name for an overblown shopping mall.
But I do wonder if America is littered with similar malls called ‘Duddeston’, ‘Northfield’ and ‘Bangham Pit’?
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December 17th – By the time I left work and returned to Telford Station, it was raining again.
Not light rain, either, but the torrential kind I’d been caught in the previous Sunday.
At least I had waterproofs this time.
The colours of the rain and dusk were captivating on the cycleway down to the station from Priorslee.
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December 3rd – Returning to Walsall a little earlier than usual from Birmingham, I was just in time to see a most beautiful sunset descend upon Walsall – but not in the best place to catch it on camera. Standing on the steps at the station side entrance. the view down Station Street and back over the empty station platforms was much better than I expected.
I’m glad I caught this one – but by heck, it felt cold…
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December 2nd – Waiting for a train at the unexpectedly infrequently-served Oakengates station in Telford, an example of why UK railways fascinate me.
That’s MJ 353 (not 352 or 354) and it’s 723 yarns ahead. Not 722, or 724, just to make that clear.
Why 723? Fabulous.
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November 28th – For once, the trains weren’t too bad. It was, of course, still a rain-sodden day and I was tired and wanting to be home.
I stood and waited and took three shots of what I could see: The exaggerated perspective and vanishing points – the people, crowding tensely but oddly patient – the train, engorging with people wanting to be home like me – the sleek, dripping machines waiting peacefully beneath their feast of wire.
New Street Station is still, and probably always be a conundrum to me. I both adore it, and loathe it. It’s like a bad mother to me: It may be all kinds of wrong, but it’s still mine.
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November 20th – Back at Telford station that evening, I studied more of the architecture visible from Telford Station: The office blocks and roads surely do look fabulous in the gathering night before a very blue sky.
Even that dreadful bridge exhibits a peculiar kind of beauty from the far end of the platform.
Telford gets a lot of stick (often from me, let’s be honest) but it is a remarkable place at night.
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November 18th – If you read this journal regularly, you’ll know I’m not terribly impressed with Telford’s new pedestrian bridge, linking the railway station with the town centre over the line and rTelford ring road.
The bridge itself is an awful design that relies on lifts for wheelchair access and those lifts are highly unreliable. The structure has no rainwater control, and seems like a badly thought out, peculiarly executed piece of civil engineering hubris.
However, I will say this: Like Walsall bus station, at night with the thing lit up, you can kind of see what the architect was getting at.
The lighting in the stairs handrails is a particularly nice touch.
But it’s still a turd you can’t really. polish.
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November 12th – A terrible day commuting to and from a job in Birmingham. It was wet, cold and the trains were very, very broken. Waiting more than an hour for a train out of Birmingham to get home, it was nearly eight before I got in.
New Street still retains it’s machine-like beauty at night, even when every light you see is red; but good lord, it’s frustrating.
The suck this year seems even worse; not only is it in the traffic and on the darkened roads, but the trains are bad, too.
I’ll be glad when Christmas comes, if I’m honest.
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November 8th – Later, on the cycleways of Telford, IU was reminded of a seasonal hazard – greasy, wet fallen leaves.
When leaves lie on the ground and it rains, the action of wheels and feet mulches the whole lot into a slippery, soapy goop that can steal your wheels from under you and make stopping highly unpredictable, especially on a road bike.
I was reminded of this speeding downhill for the train. Thankfully, I didn’t come to any harm, but be careful, folks.
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October 31st – Some seasonal traditions are always more welcome than others.
One I hate to see but recurs every autumn is the half term failure of the rail system in Birngham and the Black Country.
No matter who seems to ‘run’ the local franchise – after all, we’ve had three operators now Central Trains, London Midland and West Midlands Railway – a combination of staff shortages and mechanical failures always makes for a miserable week on local rail with delayed trains and cancelled services. This week has been no exception and rail travel has been awful.
This evening I was coming from a meeting in Birmingham and needed to be in Shenstone before six. I was so suspicious of the services leaving New Street that I caught the earlier train that terminates at Four Oaks, resolving to catch the onward train if it was still on time behind.
This gave me a few minutes to appreciate the really lovely late night feelings vibe of this surprisingly large suburban station.
I love this places at night.
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